Game apparatus



April 13, 1937. A. M. MILLER ET AL GAME APPARATUS Fild July 31, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY.

April 3, 1937. A. M. MILLER Er AL 2,077,124

' GAME APPARATUS Filed Jul 51, 1936 z'sheets-sheat 2 INVENTOR5.

9M d'fiu-(w ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 13, 1937 UNITED STATES GAME APPARATUS Arthur M. Miller, Burlingame, and Daniel '0.

McLean, San Francisco, Oalii., assignors of onethird to Herman Wobber, San Francisco, Calif.

Application July 31, 1936, Serial No. 93,630

6 Claims.

This invention relates to game apparatus devised for the purpose of entertainment and as a means of distributing prizes to crowds of people from two hundred to five, thousand people, or

more.

As an added incentive to attract or induce the public to places of entertainment, amusement and the like, such as theatres, moving picture houses,

' charity bazaars, etc.,.it has become rather common practice to issue a number of prizes at some time during or after the performance or entertainment.

Many methods of selecting and distributing the difierent prizes are employed but most of them 5 are rather long drawn and lack the spirit of entertainment and, in some instances, many even appear to be questionable as to the honesty of the donor.

The object of the present invention is to provide a game apparatus whereby the difierent prize winners may be quickly selected; to provide an apparatus which will afford amusement and interest while the'selection of the prize winner is taking place; to provide a game apparatus which is readily adjusted to take care of crowds from two hundred to five thousand, or more, and above all to provide a game apparatus which will insure an. absolute fair and honest distribution of the prizes.

The game apparatus is shown by way of illustration in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a front view of the game apparatus;

Fig. 2 is a central, vertical section 01' the same;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail view of the outer end of the spindle.

Referring to the drawings in detail, and particularly Figs. 1 and 2, A indicates a base member supporting a tubular base standard 2. Telescopically mounted therein is a second standard 3, which may be raised or lowered for the purpose of vertical adjustment, and which is secured when adjusted by means of a set screw 4, or the like.

Suitably secured to the standard, or forming a part thereof, and extending at right angles there- 5 to is a spindle 5, on which is rotatably mounted two discs 8 and I and an intermediate pointer arm 8. The discs and the pointer are rotatable independently of each other and anti-friction bearings 9 are employed to reduce friction to a minimum. -The disc 6 is, in this instance, di-

vided into one hundred spaces and numbered from one to one hundred, as indicated. A pin ill is provided for each space and a flexible clacker, or indicating finger H, slides over the pins when ,65 the disc is spun but enters between the pins The pointer 8 is also provided with a flexible finger shown at I! which slides over the pins Ill when a spinning operation takes place, but this finger, like the finger Ii, will enter between the pins l0 when the wheel or the pointer arm comes to rest and as such will indicate the prize to be paid, as prizes of varying amounts or character are printed around the outer peripheral edge of the disc, as shown in Fig. 1.

' The outermost disc I carries a colored disc H which is divided into sections by lines It. The spaces thus formed are colored red. green, brown, etc. Disc 1 is provided with pins, as shown at l5, and a clacker, or flexible finger i6 slides over the pins and enters between them when the disc comes to rest, thereby indicating a winning color.

The finger I6 is secured in the outer end of a pointer arm I1 and this is, in turn, detachably secured to the spindle 5 to permit removal of the colored disc H as will hereinafter be described.

For the purpose of describing the operation of the apparatus, let it be assumed that a given moving picture house decides to give a number of prizes on a certain night of each week, and if that is the case, the seating capacity of the house is around eight hundred. A colored disc, such as shown at M, in Figs. 1 and 2, which displays eight colors will be employed and as each patron enters he or she will be handed a colored ticket or chip having a number printed thereon. There will be one hundred tickets or chips for each color and these will benumbered from one to one hundred, hence when the house is full there will be eight hundred tickets or-chips issued, .one hundred of the green, one hundred of the brown. etc. When the time for distributing the prizes arrives the game apparatus will be placed on the stage, and it will there be clearly visible to all individuals of the audience as the disc and the printed matter formed thereon will be sumcientlylarge to permit clear vision of all details.

The manager oithe house, or'a patron selected from the audience, will operate the game, and this merely consists of spinning the discs and the pointer arm and then letting them spin until they come to rest. If prizes are to be distributed the disc and the pointer will be spun by the operator ten times in succession and the-winner, together with the amount ofthe prize won, will be visibly indicated between'each spinning operation and will also be orally announced by the operator after each spin.

The prizes given may be household articles, wearing apparel, sporting goods, theatre passes, coupons having a certain purchase or trade-in value, or the prizes may be given in cash, etc. In fact, any novelty which will appeal to the attending public may be selected.

moving picture houses and the like, the number of people attending will vary in different towns and districts. For instance, one house may have an expected attendance of two thousand people, while another may have an attendance of only four hundred people, etc. It is, accordingly, necessary to provide different colored discs, such as shown at I 4, asthe house having an attendance if two thousand people will need a disc displaying twenty colors, while the house having an attendance of only four hundred will need a disc displaying only four colors. Means for movably securing the colored disc I4 is, accordingly, provided and is best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3. In Fig. 2 the colored disc, shown at It. is secured to the face of the disc I by an annular removable rim l8. This rim engages and clamps the outer peripheral edge of the colored disc and it is secured by clamping fingers l9 engaging the rear surface of disc I.

When changing from one color disc to another, it is also necessary to remove the pointer arm IT. This is accomplished by providing the arm with a hub 20 to slip over the outer end of the spindle and to provide the hub with a bayonet slot2| frictionally securing pin 22 to the spindle. This form of construction provides means whereby the pointer arm I! may be quickly and readily applied or removed and thus makes the changing of colored discs, such as shown at M, very quickly and easily accomplished.

While certain features of the present invention are more or less specifically described, we wish it understood that various changes may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims. Similarly, that the materials and finish of the several parts employed may be such as the manufacturer may decide, or varying conditions or uses may demand.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. A game apparatus of the character described comprising a support, a spindle thereon, a first and a second-named disc independently rotatable on the spindle. a plurality of pins arranged in circular formation adjacent the pe-' ripheral edge of each disc, a pointer arm rotatable on the spindle independently of the discs, said pointer arm having a flexible finger engageable with the pins on the first-named disc, a stationary flexible finger engageable with the same pins, and a second stationary flexible finger engageable with the pins on the second-named disc.

2. A game apparatus of the character described comprising a support, a spindle thereon, a first and a second-named disc independently rotatable on the spindle, a plurality of pins arranged in circular formation adjacent the peripheral edge of each disc, a pointer arm rotatable on the spindle independently of the discs, said pointer arm having a flexible finger engageable with the pins on the first-named disc, a stationary flexible finger engageable with the same pins, and a second stationary flexible finger engageable with the pins on the second-named disc, said second-named disc having its outer face divided into sections and means displayed on each section for identifying one section from another.

3. A game apparatus of the character described comprising a support, a spindle thereon, a first and a second-named disc independently rotatable on the spindle, a plurality of pins ar-- ranged in circular formation adjacent the peripheral edge of each disc, a pointer arm rotatable on the spindle independently of the discs, said pointer arm having a flexible flnger engageable with the pins on the first-named disc, a stationary flexible finger engageable with the same pins, a second stationary flexible finger engageable with the pins on the second-named disc, and a disc detachably secured to the outer face of the second-named disc, said detachable disc being divided into a plurality of sections and each section being difl'erently colored to distinguish one section from another.

4. A game apparatus of the character described comprising a support, a spindle thereon, a first and a second-named disc independently rotatable on the spindle, a plurality of pins arranged in circular formation adjacent the peripheral edge of the first-named disc, a. pointer. arm carried by the spindle and rotatable thereon independently of the first andsecond-named discs and being disposed between said discs, a flexible finger on the pointer arm engageable with the pins on the first-named disc, a stationary flexible finger engageable with the same pins, a plurality of pins arranged in circular formation adjacent the peripheral edgeof the second-named disc, and a second stationary flexible finger engageable with said last-named pins. I

5. A game apparatus of the character described comprising a support, a. spindle thereon, a first and a'secon'd-named disc independently rotata-- 'ble on thespindle, a plurality of pins arranged in circular formation adjacent the peripheral edge of'the first-named disc, a pointer arm carried by the spindle and rotatable thereon independently' of the first and, secondmamed discs and being disposed between said discs, a flexible finger on the pointer arm engageable with the pins on the first-named disc, a stationary flexible finger engageable with the same pins, a plurality of pins arranged in circular formation adjacent theperipheral edge of the second-named disc, a second stationary flexible finger engageable with said last-named pins, and a disc detachably secured to the outer face of the second-named disc, said detachable disc being divided into a plurality of sections'and each section being differently colored to distinguish one section from another.

6. A game apparatus of the character described comprising a support, a spindle thereon, a first and a second-named disc independently rotatable on the spindle, a plurality of pins arranged in circular formation adjacent the peripheral edge of the first-named disc, a pointer arm carried bythe spindle and rotatable thereon independently of the first and second-named discs and being disposed between said discs, a flexible finger on the pointer arm engageable with the pins on the first-named disc, a stationary flexible finger engageable with the same pins, an annular rim detachably secured to the outer edge of the second-named disc, a detachable disc secured to the outer face of the second-named disc by said rim, said detachable disc being divided intoa plurality of sections with identifying means on each section, a plurality of pins arranged in circular formation around the detachable rim, and a second stationary flexible finger engageable with said last-named pins.

ARTHUR M. MILLER. DANIEL O. MCLEAN. 

